PPC management encompasses many areas of expertise. One of them is managing Google Product Ads for Google Shopping. This article addresses the following:
When creating product ads for Google Shopping, you should take advantage of ratings. Google supports aggregated ratings for product ads. They consist of a one- to five-star rating that's displayed alongside the total number of ratings submitted by customers. Whether paid or organic, you can optimize your product ads with ratings. They will instill trust in prospective customers while consequently increasing conversion rates.
Google Shopping is an online shopping platform that supports rich, dynamically generated product ads. These product ads aren't ordinary text ads. They consist of a title, image, price, the seller's name, and other specific product information. Product ads can appear in the search results, the Shopping tab, and even Google Images.
To create product ads, you'll need to set up a Merchant Center account. This will allow you to upload feed files with information about your products. Google will use this information to dynamically generate your product ads.
You can create free product ads by choosing the "Surfaces across Google" option in Merchant Center. For paid product ads, you'll need to choose "Shopping ads" in Merchant Center. Paid product ads will require you to link your Merchant Center account to your Google Ads account. Once they are linked, you can launch a Google Ads Shopping campaign that pulls information from the feed files in your Merchant Center account
When browsing Google's Shopping tab -- or other places where product ads appear -- you may notice that some product ads have product ratings. Not to be confused with seller ratings, product ratings represent individual products. They can range from one star to five stars. Product ratings consist of an aggregate star rating based on reviews left by customers.
With product ratings, more shoppers will click your product ads. They'll make your product ads stand out. An aggregate star rating will attract shoppers' attention. Shoppers will see the bright, yellow-colored star rating in a product ad, which may compel them to click it rather than an adjacent product ad without a rating.
Ratings can help your product ads rank higher. A study conducted by Joe Youngblood found that ratings were the fourth-most important ranking factor for organic product ads on Google Shopping. Organic product ads aren't influenced by price. While you spend more money to rank paid product ads higher, you'll have to optimize organic product ads for higher rankings.
Ratings may increase the rankings of your organic product ads. The use of ratings is an organic ranking factor. It doesn't hold quite as much weight as the title or product available, but your organic product ads will likely rank higher if they include ratings.
Ratings can increase your product ads' conversion rates. Shoppers will feel assured upon seeing a high aggregate star rating for a product. If a product ad has a four- or five-star aggregate rating, for instance, they'll acknowledge the product as being popular and well-received by former customers.
There are several ways that you can include ratings in your product ads. There's an option to manually upload ratings in Merchant Center. If customers can review your products by leaving a one- to five-star rating on your website, you may want to use this method. Just complete the form at support.google.com/merchants/troubleshooter/10994881. Once approved, you can upload a feed file for product ratings to your Merchant Center account.
Another way to include ratings in your product ads is to use Google Customer Reviews. Google Customer Reviews is an optional program that allows customers to complete a Google-sponsored feedback survey after making a purchase. Google will use these responses to generate aggregate ratings for your product ads.
Google supports ratings from third-party review aggregators as well. A third-party review aggregator is a website or web app that collects product reviews from customers. There are dozens of third-party review aggregators that you can use to enhance your product ads with ratings. Some of the most popular third-party review aggregators include Trustpilot, Shopper Approved, Reevoo, Reseller Ratings, Trusted Shops, and Rev.io.
Each method for including ratings in product ads has advantages and disadvantages. Uploading ratings to Merchant Center allows you to leverage product ratings on your website for use in your product ads. Because it requires a separate feed file, though, it may be difficult to set up. If you have a lot of products with a lot of ratings, you may want to choose an alternative method.
Google Customer Reviews is probably the easiest way to include ratings in your product ads. After enrolling in Google Customer Reviews, you'll have to add an opt-in form to your website's checkout process. This opt-in form will ask customers whether they want to receive a survey inquiring about their experience. Customers who agree to the opt-in form will then be able to provide a rating in a Google-sponsored survey.
The downside to using Google Customer Reviews is that it's completed automated. You won't have any control over how the questions are formatted or when the surveys are sent to customers. Furthermore, customers' responses to the surveys won't be visible on your website. Google will simply collect their responses and use them to generate ratings for your product ads.
Many online retailers prefer to use a third-party review aggregator. You won't have to manually create any feed files for product ratings. The third-party review aggregator will collect reviews for your products, after which it will submit them to Google. With that said, most third-party review aggregators cost money to use. You can upload ratings manually or use Google Customer Reviews for free, but third-party review aggregators typically require a paid subscription.
Google Shopping is a valuable source of traffic for online retailers. When shoppers are looking to buy a product on Google, they may navigate to the Shopping tab. Product ads will allow you to showcase your products to relevant shoppers. You can even enhance with ratings. Consisting of an aggregate one-to-five star rating, it will help your product ads attract more clicks, rank higher, and generate more conversions.
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